King and Queen County

Stevensville

Taverns often crowded with travelers. Top-notch schools. Fertile farmland. That was King & Queen County in colonial times. Fueled by people going between Williamsburg and Philadelphia, towns such as Newtown and Centreville flourished.

Fast forward to today and you see a county that time has forgotten. As the main roads shifted farther to the west, the travelers stopped coming and the population shrunk. It is one of the few counties in the U.S. that actually actually had a larger population in the 1700s (about 9,300 people) than it does today (just less than 7,000).

In the dozen or so Virginia travel books I have accumulated, there is no mention of King & Queen, located about 30 miles northeast of Richmond. While it does have farms, a lumber industry, hunting and valuable natural resources, the whole county has just one stop light. On a Saturday afternoon ride through the northern part of the county, I encountered just one open store.

Just finding a good place to run proved difficult. No doubt, I will face similar challenges in the southwest area of the state. The major natural resource in King & Queen is Dragon Run Swamp. The largely undisturbed and protected 90,000-acre area in parts of four counties is considered one of the most important ecological sites in the state. But the idea of running through a swamp, even if there was a place to do it, didn’t sound like such a great idea on the last weekend of January.

I was hoping to run in Newtown since it was such a happening place in colonial times. But the town consisted of just a few houses along route 721, a narrow road just busy enough to make running on it a hazard. So I continued on to Stevensville. There, I found a small side road that I felt safe enough to run on. Some cars did pass during the run, but most gave me lots of room.

King and Queen County was first settled in 1691. It is named after King William III and Queen Mary of England. The county is about 65 miles north-to-south, but less than 10 miles east-to-west.

37 runs down, 97 to go.


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Newtown Post Office
The Firehouse
Convience Store
The Light
Stop Signs
Bruington
Stevensville
Garage?
Redskin Country
Yellow House
Posted
No Hunting
Old Barn
Mobile Living
Fake Flowers
Front Yard
Old Farm Equipment
Sunset

Newtown Post Office

In the Colonial period, Newtown was a busy place with travelers, taverns and schools. Today, it consists of about a half dozen houses and the post office-general store built in 1922.

The Firehouse

Newtown also has a firehouse. No bingo today...

Convience Store

This store on U.S. Route 360 at St. Stephen's Church seemed to be the most lively place in the county, but no loitering or loud music allowed...

The Light

This is the one stop light in the county, at the intersection of Route 360 (that goes to Richmond) and 721 (the main east/west road in the county).

Stop Signs

Only one light, but they do have quite a few stop signs.

Bruington

This building appeared to be a labor of love more than a functioning store. There were a couple of places like this along the way.

Stevensville

Another "labor of love" type of store that was closed on a Saturday afternoon, although I'm not sure if it is ever open. I started my run from here.

Garage?

Another well-kept structure in Stevensvile.

Redskin Country

A lot of Burgundy and Gold covered the area.

Yellow House

Posted

Some of the woods appeared to be owned by hunt clubs.

No Hunting

Other areas made it clear that they were deer friendly.

Old Barn

Mobile Living

Fake Flowers

Front Yard

Old Farm Equipment

Sunset

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